Canada’s seed industry needs more time to find a new method of inspecting pedigreed seed crops across the country, says the head of the Canadian Seed Growers Association.
The seed industry has just 15 months to develop a new system for ensuring that pedigreed seed crops are inspected properly.
Those timelines are putting the industry under a lot of pressure, according to CSGA executive director Dale Adolphe.
He said more time is needed to ensure that a new system can be developed properly and implemented seamlessly.
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“Quality of service is paramount in our minds because that’s our reputation,” Adolphe said.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency currently provides seed crop inspections across Canada using a workforce of roughly 80 full-time inspectors and 120 seasonal employees.
The CFIA announced in July 2012 that it would no longer be involved in seed crop inspections as of April 2014.
More than a million acres of pedigreed seed are inspected each year.
The seed industry is currently looking at different ways to provide seed crop inspection services to pedigreed seed growers.
Self inspection is one possibility.
Another option is third-party delivery, where the services are provided on a fee-per-service basis by an independent third party that has been trained and accredited by the CFIA.
Under the third party model, seed growers would be expected to pay the full cost of seed crop inspections, a service that has traditionally been provided through the CFIA at a subsidized rate.
Either way, timelines are tight.
“It would almost be better if 2013 and 2014 could be training years and used to get alternative service delivery providers authorized and inspectors licensed … and then roll it out in 2015),” Adolphe said.
